Great Athletes Eat the Rainbow

I know everyone has heard the motto for Skittles to “Eat the Rainbow”, but as athletes, we want to apply this concept to our fruit and vegetable intake. IN the Nutrition 101 Blog Series, we covered all the macronutrients.  Fruits and vegetables are our main source of the micronutrients and SUPER important for athletic performance.

For a normal person, the USDA recommends 4-5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Now remember, we are athletes and we learned in the first few posts of the Sports Nutrition 101 series that being an athlete means that we have different nutritional needs than normal people. That being said, our goal is to get 8-9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day to optimize our athletic performance. 

Now this many fruits and vegetables may seem like a lot in theory, but if you think about just trying to eat a rainbow, or many different colors, of F + V each day, you can easily meet the target range of intake. 

The variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals in fruits and vegetables have enormous healing powers. Phytochemicals are compounds produced by plants. They are not only beneficial to the human body but also provide plants, their distinctive colors. Eating a diversity of colorful foods can be an easy way to get a complete range of the vitamins and minerals your body needs to thrive.

Eating a wide variety of colors of fruits and vegetables provides you with different phytochemicals that protect the body against inflammation and oxidative stress that occurs constantly in the body, and even more so in athletes that are regularly training and stressing the body.

Curious about what each color can do for you? Here’s a little run down of how each color fruit and vegetable can help you!

Red

Red fruits and vegetables contain phytonutrients that help keep your heart healthy and reduce your risk of developing certain cancers. They have lots of anti-inflammatory effects that are important for muscle recovery & performance.

• Examples: red apples, cherries, cranberries, grapefruit, watermelon, strawberries, raspberries, pomegranate, beets, red peppers, tomatoes & more!

Orange & Yellow

Orange and yellow fruits and vegetables are rich in carotenoids and vitamin C. The carotenoids help with immunity, healing, vision and skin conditions. The vitamin C helps with immunity, heart health, and aids in absorption of iron– super important for athletes!

• Examples: cantaloupe, mango, peaches, oranges, pumpkin, sweet potato, lemon, pears, potatoes, summer squash, yellow peppers, & more!

Green

Green fruits and vegetables contain vitamin K, folate, iron and antioxidants that help with blood clotting, bone health, vision, nail & hair growth, and help to fight infections!

• Examples: avocado, green grapes, broccoli, spinach, cucumber, kale, artichokes, kiwi, green apples, celery & more!

Blue and Purple

Blue and purple fruits and vegetables contain phytochemicals that help with inflammation, memory and more! These are super important for athletes when it comes to fighting soreness from tough workouts, enhancing recovery and helping you to remember all your plays during games.

• Examples: blueberries, figs, plums, prunes, purple carrots, purple potatoes, eggplant, purple cabbage, blackberries & more!

Brown 

Brown fruits and vegetables fight against bacteria, aid in heart and brain health and decrease swelling – all extremely important in athletes! 

• Examples: mushrooms, dates, ginger, brown pears, & more!

White

White fruits and vegetables have a wide variety of beneficial effects. They help heart, respiratory, and bone health. They also fight infection, cancers and helps to lower cholesterol levels. 

• Examples: white peaches, cauliflower, fennel, garlic, onions, parsnips, shallots, potatoes, jicama & more!

The Main Takeaway: Each color gives you different benefits, so let’s try to eat them ALL!

Now that you see the importance of eating the rainbow, you may be eager for some recipes and tips on how to include these in your diet. If this is you, sign up for the Webinar coming up this Thursday January 25th at 3 PM (EST) "Meal Plan Like an Athlete"   to learn more about a simple strategy to plan for your goals and exactly how to eat the rainbow every day by  incorporating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables into your diet.

If you are ready to take a deeper dive and enroll in "YOUR ULTIMATE SPORTS NUTRITION GAME PLAN" I would love to help you figure it all out! The 6 week course starts on January 31st and its the answer to all your questions as an athlete who wants to eat better and be better!

-Blog Post Author, Ashley Steinberger, RD2B and Eat4Sport Dietetic Intern